Worker's Critical Injury Results in $70,000 Fine for Cobourg Company

Court Bulletin

Worker's Critical Injury Results in $70,000 Fine for Cobourg Company

Convicted: Belden Canada Inc., 130 Willmott Street, Cobourg, Ontario, a company that produces and sells connectivity and networking products to a variety of markets, including industrial and broadcasting.

Location: The company's workplace at 130 Willmott Street, Cobourg.

Description of Offence: A worker suffered a critical injury after being caught in operating machinery.

The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Background:

On February 15, 2018, a worker was working on a machine used to process wire. The wire arrives wound around a spool and is then fed from the spool into the machine.

Almost immediately upon starting the machine the worker became entangled in several loops of the wire.

The machine had doors and a locking mechanism but no key or tool is required to open this lock; therefore it is not considered to be a fixed guard.

The worker called for help and was helped by co-workers until paramedics arrived.

Section 26 of Regulation 851/90 (the Industrial Establishments Regulation) states that a machine shall be guarded so that the material being processed will not endanger the safety of a worker. Section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act states that the employer must ensure the regulations are followed.

Consequently, Belden Canada Inc. violated section 25(1)(c) of the act and pleaded guilty to failing as an employer to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by the the Industrial Establishments Regulation were carried out in the workplace.